Page 5 of The Mechanic's Secret Santa

“Maybe you’d be willing to be my boyfriend for a few days?”

“Boyfriend?”

“Fake!” she practically shouts, drawing the attention of a couple across the street. She sends them a friendly wave until they return to their own conversation. “Forget it. It’s stupid. Why would you want to do that anyway, right? I mean, I could offer you free baked goods for life.” She lets out a tiny, hopeless laugh and I can see the insecurity in her eyes. I want to stop her right there, but she’s still rambling at top speeds. “But whywouldyouwant to fake date me? It’s notyourmom you have to convince you have a life. Not as if your mom can end all your dreams. It’s nothing. You know what? Never mind. Forget I said anything.”

Already the wheels are turning. This fake relationship, however brief, might just be the opportunity I need to get close to Meg. My dick twitches, the damn thing still stuck on thoughts of Meg’s most precious cookie, demanding I agree to this blindfolded. But as tempting as this sounds, I’m admittedly a little stunned by this unexpected turn of events. “Why is this so important?”

Meg bites down on her bottom lip. “Can you keep this between us?”

“Consider it our first official relationship secret.”

“Fakerelationship,” she adds, dropping her gaze to the gift bag once more. With the way she’s guarding the contents, I’m dying to know what the hell’s in there. Something naughty, perhaps?

“My mom still owns the bakery. If she believes I’ve found a good work-life balance, she’ll sign the deed over to me. I thought it was going to be this summer, but she apparently decided to come home for Christmas and might consider signing it over sooner.”

I can’t believe my luck. “So you’ll need to actually go out on dates with me?”

“What? Why?”

“To convince your mom that you have a work-life balance,” I insist.

“Dammit, you’re right,” she grumbles.

“You don’t have to sound so upset about spending a little time with me,” I tease.

“It’s a busy time of year,” she adds.

“For cocks?”

“They’re for a bachelorette party,” she hisses, but try as she might to fight the smile, it spreads across her kissable lips anyway. “Fine, we’ll go on a pretend date or two. For show. My Mom will probably be all over town anyway. I supposed it would be easy to becaughttogether.” She shakes her head. “Why would you even agree to this?”

Because the truth would likely scare her off, I settle for, “It’s Christmas, right?”

“So?”

“Are you some kind of secret Scrooge? Because I don’t think I can fake date a real Scrooge.”

“Of course not! I’m just…what’s in it for you?”

“Free sweets for life.” It’s the least important reason, but I’m not about to risk scaring off what might be my best chance at convincing my future wife that we belong together. I’ll be the best damn fake boyfriend she’s ever had.

If all goes according to my newly devised plan, there’ll be nothingfakeabout our relationship come Christmas Day.

Chapter Three

MEG

“You might want to slow down. Unless you want your mom to see you frantically working your ass off,” Becky Sue warns in the most loving way possible as I rush around the kitchen like a chicken with its head cut off. As well-intentioned as her advice is, I can’t afford to slow down. Mom will be here any minute, and there’s still evidence of cock cookies to be destroyed.

“At the very least, take a breath before you shove that cock all the way in,” Piper, my marketing guru, says with a laugh.

Because my mouth is full of one of the cock cookies that looks like it got murdered, I can’t defend myself without choking.Thatwould only give the ladies more ammunition. So I force myself to stop, chew, and swallow.

“The practice can’t hurt anything,” Becky Sue says, wriggling her eyebrows. “It might come in handy on yourdatelater.”

“Fakedate.”

“You really think your mom will buy that you have a boyfriend you’ve never mentioned?” Piper asks, her tone more serious now. She’s been off from her usual bubbly self, but Ihaven’t had a chance to ask her what’s up. If I’m being honest, I’m afraid to ask. Piper has this deceiving, sweet-girl innocence that masks her fiery, unexpected temper well. Sometimes she can be a little scary.

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